The SOFA will include a timetable (updated) Posted by Shawn Brimley

So the forthcoming agreement will include a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. This from the Washington Post:

In agreeing to pull U.S. combat troops out of Iraqi cities by June, and from the rest of the country by 2011, President Bush has apparently consented to precisely the kind of timetable that, when Democrats called for one, he dismissed as "setting a date for failure." Bush can call it an "aspirational goal" until he turns blue, but a timetable is exactly what it is, thank you very much.

Bush has repeatedly warned that politics and public opinion should have no role in the decision about when to leave Iraq, but apparently he just meant American politics and public opinion. A clear majority of Americans has favored a withdrawal timetable for several years now, putting anti-war Democrats in control of Congress in 2006.

Bush's acquiescence pulls the rug out from under Republican presidential candidate John McCain, whose position on Iraq was largely identical to Bush's -- pre-backflip. In some ways, the new timetable is even shorter than the one proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

So how is this not exactly what Bush had previously decried as an invitation to disaster? The White House line will be that the timetable is still somewhat conditional -- and only possible because the situation on the ground has improved.

President Bush endorses a timetable, Prime Minister Maliki endorses a timetable, and Senator Obama endorses a timetable. I will be interested in how the McCain campaign explains this one.

Update: this from HASC Chairman Ike Skelton:

“After years of resisting calls from Congress, the Bush Administration has finally agreed to a timeline for the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq.  This is a very significant development and I am pleased that the Iraqi Government was able to convince the Bush Administration that this is a positive approach.  My House colleagues and I have consistently supported this position and over one year ago passed my bill, H.R. 2956, the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act.   

“The timelines proposed in this agreement are longer than those I have advocated and I want to know more details to determine whether the deadlines set by this agreement are sound, but I am encouraged by what seems to be real progress in making plans to responsibly redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq.  It is also critical that the final agreement provide immunity for our troops, an issue which I raised with the President in June.  I will carefully review the agreement when it becomes final to make sure it fully reflects those concerns.”

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